When Giovanna Vitelli picked up the phone to call architect and designer Fabio Fantolino, the Azimut-Benetti Group Chairwoman knew what she was looking for: another decisive step in the updating of Azimut’s offerings.
An upgrade of the Azimut 72 designed by the late Stefano Righini with interiors by Carlo Galeazzi, the new Fly 72 is among Azimut’s latest models to feature an exterior by Alberto Mancini – now responsible for most new S, Fly and Grande series designs. Vitelli, however, wanted to work with Fantolino for the first-time on the interiors despite having never designed a yacht before.
“They sought out my studio for the interiors after they had carefully examined our styles and analysed the market sectors that our work would appeal to,” Fantolino recalls. “They were looking to upgrade on elegance.”
Azimut Benetti is making a major upgrade to its product range. A lighter, energy-efficient boat is also a goal for a greener and more sustainable life at sea.
With the new model part of Azimut’s Carbon-Tech Generation, Pierluigi Ausonio’s PLANA studio designed the Fly 72’s naval architecture with a hull in GRP and large areas of the superstructure and the beach platform in weight-saving carbon-fibre.
Up top, the carbon-fibre-laminated flybridge is 30 per cent lighter than it would have been if fully built in fibreglass, says the yard. The overall reduction of weight improves fuel efficiency and keeps the boat’s centre of gravity low, always a plus for a planing yacht’s comfort and manoeuvrability.
Outdoor Spaces
Mancini has been penning the exteriors of most of Azimut’s new Fly, S and Grande yachts and the consistency of his work has brought a real family feeling to the shipyard’s new offerings. “I always try to create a dialogue between traditional and modern, land-based and seafaring,” Mancini says.
While the yachts he has designed for Azimut have long sweeps of glass that bring lots of light into the interiors, Mancini never designs what he calls “glass shoebox yachts” and always keeps his lines fluid, especially when designing a flybridge yacht that’s sporty in its essence.
“As a designer, I feel I should coax owners back into a more seafaring world because it’s important not to forget that we’re at sea and have to respect it.”
Transoms have a swim platform that can be raised or lowered to allow access to the sea. There is also a ladder which folds down. The hydraulic gangway is telescopic, while the garage can store a 4m tender and a jetski, plus there’s an additional storage locker for toys such as Seabobs and diving equipment.
A comfortable C-shaped leather sofa and a synthetic stone table are located in the cockpit aft. This area, shaded by a flybridge overhang and a wetbar which can be closed for a cleaner look, also features a table in synthetic stone.
The large flybridge has an open section aft that the owners can arrange as they please to take advantage of the view through a glass railing topped with a thin stainless steel rail.
The hardtop is made of carbon fibre and has an opening in the middle. It shades a space with couches, tables and an outdoor galley. The Raymarine touchscreens are located at the helm, and you can set up a table around it or add sun pads.
Trapezoidal bows provide extra space on the foredeck. The hydraulic bimini allows you to shade your sunpads, couches and other surfaces without having the hassle of installing awnings. And the bow’s accentuated flange means water is deflected off the foredeck, so no surprise splashes.
FANTOLINO’S SURPRISE
However, it’s all change inside, after Fantolino responded positively to Vitelli’s request to design the Fly 72’s interiors. “When someone calls your studio, you know they’re looking for your style. Her thoughts on the project and Azimut’s objective for the yacht matched ours. From there, we had an optimal working relationship and made a great team,” he says of his first yachting project.
“It was a challenge, but being an architect is always a challenge. When you’re called to work in a new sector, it’s always a pleasure because it’s a new world, a new opportunity to express yourself. I’m always pushing my design comfort zone; that’s the joy in my line of work.”
Fantolino’s studio and he began the project by conducting a market study. They were surprised to find out what they discovered. “We didn’t expect the nautical world to be so isolated from the rest of the design world. It seemed niche and maybe a bit exclusive up to about 10 years ago, then the design world accelerated, and trends changed,” he says.
“The world of transversal design moved ahead while nautical design dropped back. It didn’t look niche anymore. It just looked old and wasn’t keeping pace.”
Fantolino’s goal was to bring the worlds of nautical and transversal design closer together and create an interior where elegance and refinement would also be luxurious.
“Our approach was to update the nautical language with new colours, materials, shapes and combinations. The Fly 72 combines luxury design, yacht design, and international design. This was achieved by using contradictions. For example, classic materials were given contemporary lines, or contrasts between matte and glossy surfaces or straight and curved edges.
“The hard part is finding the sweet spot between contrast and comfort in a smaller space because you must also have balance and equilibrium. We wanted to avoid a puzzle of overlapping areas so the space would feel larger and more open.”
Walking into WOW
When you enter the room, you will immediately feel large and open. There are long windows, with unbroken panes, interesting textures, and muted colors. Fantolino’s studio also designed all the furnishings, from the lamps to the couches and tables, but that wasn’t enough for Fantolino.
“Aboard a yacht, the exterior is always nearby, and you don’t want to distract from the views, but you still want a wow effect when you enter the interior,” he says. Fantolino says the galley is a real wow, and it was a difficult design.
“But it was also the spot that gave us the greatest satisfaction as it gives personality to the interior. It was important to have a focal point because everything on a boat is so close. The designers should make it more enjoyable for guests to be inside. That’s more difficult in a smaller space.”
The galley’s design, with its serving station dressed up in coloured wood, is impressive. Its central location with the dining area across from it makes it a convivial, social area and fits the way we live today, especially when we’re on vacation. The helm is located in the front of the galley, and to the port side there’s a small crew dinette.
STYLISHLY COHSENTE
Accommodation on the lower deck includes a VIP Cabin fore, with a bed centrally placed that takes advantage of the extra width created by the trapezoidal stern. The full-beam owners’ cabin is midships and has large, single-pane hull windows in structural glass, a central bed and lots of storage. A TV is concealed behind a magic mirror at the foot of the bed and there’s even a safe in the closet.
The crew area is divided into two separate areas. There are also two additional guest rooms. Fantolino, who has designed the interiors, thought of everything. Even the taps on the bathrooms are stylish.
“Chromed faucets are not in fashion anymore,” he says of a small detail that can make a big difference. “Maybe in the nautical world, nobody realised the market was looking ahead and that people didn’t want the same old thing.”
Interiors aside, Fantolino admits to enjoying his time spent aboard the Fly 72 during sea trials, even if he wasn’t focused on the power and performance supplied by the twin 1,400hp MAN V12 engines.
“It was a lovely experience to work in this new world, as it’s very different from anything we had done before. You can learn about managing the storage spaces and how to work within the limitations of materials, and I thank Azimut for helping us to avoid some errors,” he admits.
“The hardest part about nautical design is making a smaller space feel light. It is important to use materials that are of high quality and have a good design. However, there are restrictions on materials. You can still do a lot to lighten up the feel. It was better than expected. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
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This article first appeared on Yachtstyle.co.
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